Multiple needle sewing machine



March 19, 1935. Cir? RUBEL 1,995,078

MULTIPLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE Filed July 24, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1March 19, 1935. v c. F. RUBEL 1,995,078

MULTIPLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE 7 Filed July 24, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 wN N lllll March 19, 1935. c. F. RUBEL 1,995,078

' MULTIPLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE Filed July 24, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3March 19, 1935. c. F. RUBEL MULTIPLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE Filed July24, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 r I/ m Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UN TED-STATESPATENT OFFICE MULTIPLE NEEIEZZSZZEZIING MAonI J I Charles F. Rubel,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Union Special Machine Company, Chicago,Ill.,' a corporation of Illinois Application July 24,1933, Serial No.682,016

3 Claims. (01. 112-166) The invention relates to new and usefulimproperly spaced to cooperate with theloopers provements in a multipleneedle sewing machine, in a predetermined settingthereof..Thesespreadandmore particularly toa machine of this type er fingers areall integral with acommon shank wherein a thread carrying loopercooperates formed from the same piece of metal. The metal with eachneedle for making independent lines plate is shaped to provide thespreaders by the -5 of stitching. manufacturer of the machine. Thismetal plate An object ofthe invention is to provide a mais attached to asupport which is mounted in the chine of the above type having athreadcarrymachine for movement in a direction at right ing looper moving inthe line of feed, with a angles to the line of feed.

3 spreader for each looper, which spreaders are It is thought that theinvention will be better all formed from a single piece of metal with aunderstood by a detail description of the machine common connectingshank, so that said spreaders illustrated in the drawings. The machineshown will always remain in the same set position relais a multipleneedle machine which includes four tive toeach other as that determinedby the needles 1, 2, 3 and 4. These needles are all car'- manufacturerof the machine. ried 'by a needlebar 5 which is reciprocated by 15' Inthe drawingsaneedle lever 6 connected thereto through a Figure 1 is aview partlyin vertical section and link 7. Coope at h e needle eneathpartly in front elevation showing a portion of the work support is athreadlcarrying looper 8. the machine embodying the improvement;Cooperating with the needles'3, 4 and 5,-respec- Fig. 2 is a plan Viewof the parts beneaththe tively, are t d c y loopers andyll- 20 worksupport; I These thread carrying loopers are mounted on a Fig. 3'is aview partly in vertical section along ca er 12 W h in tu is Supported ya} af the line of feed and in end elevation; c 13. The carrier isattached to the shaft so that Fig. 4 is a perspective View of theyspreaders it can be released therefrom and movedlaterally and thesupporting means therefor; for threading purposes. The shaft 13 is moved25 7 Fig. 5 is a View showing the relative position endwise to give tothe loopers a needle'avoiding of the Spreaders andthe looperswhen theloopers v me t by link 14 Which is pivoted ball areat the forward endsof their stroke; V stud carried by the end of the shaft. This link Fig.6 is a view showing the relative position 14 is'attached to the arm 15carried by a sleeve of the loopers, Spreaders and needles .whe'nthe 16mounted for oscillation n a ub shaf 17- loopers are at the rear endsoftheir stroke; Said sleeve isprovided with an arm 18 which is Fig. '7is a detail showing one 'of 'the loopers connected to an eccentric strap19 cooperating and its cooperating spreader, with the looper-at with aneccentric on. the main shaft 20. The the'forward end'of' its stroke andthe spreader shaft 13 is oscillated fo vi g the loopers operating t h ldth thr ad triangle n for into and out of the needle thread loopsbyjmeans 35 the point of the needle toenter, and J 1 ofa link'21: whichis connected to'fa ball stud Fig.8 is a plan view ofjthe parts shown incarried'atthe lower end of an arm 22 fixed to Fig. 7; the shaft 13. Theother end ofthelink 21 is,

The invention has to do with a multiple needle attached to a crank 23carried by the main actu-. machine which includes a plurality of needlesating shaft 20. This looper operating mechanism 40 arranged in a line atright angles to the line of and the means whereby the looper carriermay, feed. Cooperating withleach needle is a thread. be released fromthe shaft per se form no part carrying looper, which moves in a planeparallel of the present invention, but are shown, described with theline of feed and in a direction opposed and claimed in the patentgranted J ames' R. Mofto the feed'as it entersithe needle thread loop.fatt and Albert H. Simmons, January 10, 1922', Associated with eachlooperis a spreader which No. 1,40 V f moves across the upper face'ofthe looper and .Thermaterial is fed acrossthe work support engagesthelooper thread so as to carry it away by a feed dog24 carried by afeed bar.25. The from the body of the lo0per,thus opening the feedbar israised and lowered by aneccen'tric present invention has to do with theconstruction bar is moved back and forth by a feedrockerf of thespreaders in this type'of machine. The 27 which is provided with an arm28 connected Spreaders are all formed from the same piece of to aneccentricstrap 29 cooperating with an ec- W metal. A metal plate ismachined and shaped centric attached to and rotating with the .main

thread trianglefor the needle to enter. The 26 on the main actuatingshaft 20 "-1The feed 0' so as to provide projecting fingers which areactuating shaft 20. As shown in thedr'awin'gs', 5

the needles 1 and 2 are arranged comparatively close together. Theneedles 3 and 4 are also arranged close together. These pairs are widelyspaced. There is a feed dog 24 associated with each pair of needles. Theneedles and the loopers and the feed dogs are capable of adjustment atright angles to the line of feed, so that a machine canbe changed fromone gauge to another. The loopers are so disposed that they move in aplane substantially parallelwith the line of feed and in adirectionopposed to the feed as they enter the needle thread loops.

Associated with the looper 8 is'a spreader finger 30. There are alsospreader fingers 31, 32 and 33 associated, respectively, with theloopers 9, 10 and 11. and 33 are all formed as an integral part of aplate which is shaped so as to provide a common shank 34 for all of thespreaders. The plate is made of steel and is shaped so as toprovidethese. projectingfingers properly spaced to cooperate with the loopersin} a predetermined setting thereoffor a certain predetermined needlegauge. The plate forming the supporting shank and the spreaders isconstructed by the manufacturer of the machine, and the spreaders areproperly dimensioned as has already been noted for use on a certainsetting of the loopers. These spreadersare.non-adjustable. The shankportion 34 carrying the spreaders is secured to a carrier '35 bysuitable screws 36, 36. The carrier 35 is mounted on a shaft3'7 and issecured thereto by set screws 33, 38. The shaft37 is mountedforendwise'movement in supporting brackets 39 and 40. Fixed to the shaft37 is an arm l'which is provided with a fork 42 at its lower end adaptedtov straddle a pin 43 carried by the bracket 39, (see Fig. 1). Thepurpose of this. arm and pin is to permitjthe shaft to move endwise, butto prevent any oscillation of the shaft. 1

The shaft is provided with a collar 44 carrying an arm 45 to which isattached a link 46. This link at itsother end is attached to a ball stud47 carriedby the sleeve 16. As the sleeve 16 oscillates, it not onlymoves the looperlaterally, but it also moves this'shaft 37 endwise', andthus imparts a lateral movement to the spreaders. When the looper ismoved to the right as viewed in Figures 5 and 6, the spreaders are movedto the left. After the loopers have moved forward into the needle threadloops and the needles have been retracted, then the loopers aregiven'the usual lateral needle avoiding movement, which is a movement'tothe right as viewed in Figures 5 and 6. At the same time, thespreader ismoved to the left, and each spreader will contact with the looper threadextending from the eye of the looper to the previous stitch "formationof the looper with'whioh it is associated. This continued lateralmovement of the looper in one direction and the spreader in the other,will separate the looper thread loop from the body of the looper, thusspreading the thread triangle so that when the needle descends, it will,with certainty, pass between the looper thread and the body of thelooper or enter the'thread triangle. Itwill be noted that the face ofthe spreader which contacts with the looper thread is straight andslightly inclined to a plane at .right angles to the path of movementofthe spreader, so that when a spreader face contacts with the looperthread,

it willretain the looper thread during the retractin'g movement of thelooper a sufiicient time for the spreading of the looper thread loop sothat the point'of the needle may'enter the same,-

These spreader fingers 30, 31, 32

'dles.

and just as soon as the point of the needle has passed the looper threadI as indicated in Figures 7 and 8, then the continued backward movementof the looper will cast the thread from the spreader. The straightinclined face greatly facilitates the casting of the thread therefrom.

In Figures '7 and 8, the looper thread of the looper 8 is indicated atZ. The spreader 30 is shown in contact with a looper thread and carryingthe same to one side so as to open the thread triangle for the needle 1to enter.

The plate from which the spreader fingers are formed is made by themanufacturer, and each spreader finger is shaped so as to properlycooperate-with its looper when the loopers in the multiple needlemachine are properly set to cooperate with the needles for a certaindesired gauge of nee- Inasmuch as the spreaders are not adjustable,there is no chance of the operator shifting the same and thus throwingthe cooperating parts out of proper timing. Furthermore, when. thespreaders and the supporting plate are formed from a single piece ofmetal, there is no chance of the spreaders workingloose and. shiftingout of proper position. The structure is strong and durable and thespreader fingers are held in a rigid position relative to the supportedshank. The supporting shank is broad and can be firmly attached to thecarrier therefor. It is essential that the spreader shall be supportedin front of the extreme position to which the loopers are moved andshallproject so as to overhang the loopers, and by. forming the spreaders andthe shank from a single piece of metal, a very rigid support is providedfor these overhanging spreader fingers. Then again, the number of partsare reduced so that the structure may be made light, all of whichcontributes to high speed in this type of machine.

It is obvious that minor changes in the shaping of the parts may be madewithout departing from thespirit of the invention as set'forth in theappended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is v 1. A multiple needle sewing machine.including in combination a plurality of needles arranged in a line atright angles to the line of feed, a thread carrying looper associatedwith each needle .and moving in a plane substantially parallel with theline of feed and in a direction opposed to the feed as it enters itsneedle thread loop,' a spreader finger associated with each looper, acommon shank supporting all of said spreaders, said spreaders and commonshank being integral whereby .said spreaders have a rigid set positionrelative to each other, a carrier for said shank, and means for, movingsaid carrier in a directiontransversely of the line of feed for causingthe spreader to engage the looper thread loop and position the same forthe needle to enter, each spreader having the face thereof contactingwith the looper thread straight and slightly inclined to a plane atright angles to the path of movement of the'spreader.

, 2. A multiple needle sewing machine including in combination aplurality of needles arranged in a line at right angles to the line offeed, a thread carrying looper associated with each needle and moving ina plane substantially parallel with the line of feedand in a directionopposed to the feed as it enters its needle thread loop, a spreaderfinger associated with each looper, a common shank supporting all ofsaid spreaders, said spreaders and common shank being integral wherebysaid spreaders have a rigid set position relative to each other, acarrier for said shank, and means for imparting a needle avoidingmovement to the looper and for moving said carrier for the spreaders ina direction at right angles tothe line of feed and said spreaders in adirection opposed to the movement of the loopers for causing thespreaders to engage the looper thread loops to position the same for theneedles to enter their respective thread triangles, said spreadershaving the faces thereof which contact with the respective looperthreads straight and inclined away from a plane at right angles to thepath of movement of the spreaders;

feed as it enters its needle thread loop, a spreader finger associatedwith each looper, each spreader finger having the face thereof whichcontacts with the looper thread straight and inclined away from a planeat right angles to the path of movement of the spreader, a common shanksupporting all of said spreaders, said spreaders and common shank beingintegral whereby said spreaders have a rigid set position relative toeach other, a carrier for said shank, said shank overlying said carrierand screws for rigidly attaching the same to the carrier, a shaft onwhich said carrier is mounted, and means for moving said shaft endwisefor imparting a lateral movement to said spreaders, said movement of thespreaders being timed so as to cause the spreaders to engage the looperthread loops during the lateral movement of the loopers for spreadingthe thread triangles for their respective needles to enter.

CHARLES F. RUBEL.

